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Loch Ness monster Nessie sightings throughout history

A Google Earth image which was said to have shown the Loch Ness monster could have been a boat which regularly tours the loch.

This image of Loch Ness can be seen by entering coordinates Latitude 57°12'52.13"N, Longitude 4°34'14.16"W in Google Earth

Earlier this week a British security guard claimed to have found the legendary creature using Google's satellite mapping programme.

The image, which can be seen by entering coordinates Latitude 57°12'52.13"N, Longitude 4°34'14.16"W in Google Earth, depicts a large object resembling a sea creature clearly visible beneath or on the surface of the water

Adrian Shine, a researcher on the Loch Ness project, called the new images "really intriguing" and said they deserved further study.

Following the report Google announced that its specially-altered trike camera – which is able to take eye-level images of areas that are inaccessible to Street View's camera cars – would be sent to Loch Ness on Thursday.

But it has now been suggested that the images are not of the mysterious creature but of the Ness Express, a boat which regularly tours the loch.

Another image of the boat can be seen on Google Earth by entering the coordinates Latitude 57°10'8.21"N, Longitude 4°37'53.37"W.

The Loch Ness Monster remains a subject of mass intrigue and debate. Scientists have widely written off the idea as a modern-day myth and continued sightings as set ups and wishful thinking.

Yet it has remained a contested phenomenon for almost 80 years.

Earlier this year it was reported that climate change may have killed the Loch Ness Monster. There have been "no "credible sightings" of Nessie for over a year.

Veteran American monster hunter Bob Rines thinks environmental conditions in the Highland loch have changed and can no longer sustain the elusive reptile.

The animal was first brought to the world's attention in 1933. Since then there have been dozens of sightings, many of which have turned out to be hoaxes.

There have also been a number of searches for the creature. The most recent was in 2008 when scientists used sonar and underwater cameras in an attempt to find the animal.

could have been a boat which regularly tours the loch

In 2007, 55 year old English lab technician Gordon Holems claimed to have captured the most compelling evidence for the existence of the Loch Ness monster in history

In 1998 an object was filmed from a boat carrying tourists, of an object swimming accross the Loch

Dubbed the Loch Ness Muppet, this 1977 attempt to prove the monster's existence proved to be a fake. Anthony Shiels claimed that he took this picture while camping beside Urquhart Castle

Frank Searle, a former army captain, arrived in Loch Ness to search for the monster during the early 1970s. He took a number of photos of Nessie, many of which were published by the media, but all of which have been dismissed by experts as fakes

Taken in 1972, this photograph seems to show the Loch Ness Monster moving towards the right with its hump protruding well above the surface and its mouth open

An expedition to find Nessie led by Dr. Robert Rines in 1972 took a picture of what appeared to be the flipper of a large animal. However, the relatively clear image shown to the public had been retouched

This underwater photo, taken in 1972 during the Rines expedition, seems to show a plesiosaur-like creature

Bank manager Peter MacNab snapped a photo of something large moving through the water of the loch near Urquhart Castle in July 1955

In 1951, Lachlan Stuart took a picture of mysterious humps rising from the loch. Author Richard Frere later revealed that Stuart had confessed to him the humps were nothing more than bales of hay

This photograph was taken by Colonel Robert Wilson on Loch Ness in April, 1934...

Christian Spurling later admitted that it was in fact a hoax

On November 12, 1933, Hugh Gray was walking back from church along the shore of Loch Ness when he saw an 'object of considerable dimensions, making a big splash with spray on the surface of the Loch'